Zoetis Foundation expands AVMF scholarships to $2.25 million
Bottom line
Zoetis Foundation is putting $2.25 million a year into an expanded scholarship partnership with the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, starting in 2026. The program will fund 70 veterinary student scholarships worth $25,000 each and 35 veterinary technician student scholarships worth $10,000 each, a notable increase from the foundation’s earlier technician scholarship support through AVMF. AVMF said the expansion is meant to help students manage rising education costs while supporting careers tied to animal health, public health, and food security. (avmf.org)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is another sign that major industry funders are treating workforce pressure and student debt as business-critical issues, not side concerns. AVMA’s 2025 economic report found average DVM debt for 2024 graduates was $168,979 across all graduates and $202,647 among those with debt, while 38.5% graduated with $200,000 or more in DVM debt. In that context, larger scholarships won’t solve access or retention on their own, but they can meaningfully reduce financial pressure, especially for students weighing lower-paying career paths or for technician students who’ve historically had fewer large-dollar scholarship options. (ebusiness.avma.org)
What to watch: Watch for application uptake this fall, where recipients cluster by school and career interest, and whether Zoetis ties this scholarship expansion to its broader pipeline-building efforts, including a separate $250,000 2026 grant to NAVC’s Believe and Belong in Veterinary Medicine program. (avmf.org)
Zoetis Foundation has expanded its partnership with the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, committing $2.25 million in annual scholarship funding beginning in 2026. Under the new structure, AVMF will award $25,000 scholarships to 70 veterinary students and $10,000 scholarships to 35 veterinary technician students in AVMA-accredited programs across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, depending on program type and eligibility. AVMF framed the move as a direct response to rising educational costs and growing demand for veterinary services. (avmf.org)
The announcement builds on an existing Zoetis Foundation scholarship relationship with AVMF, especially on the technician side. Zoetis’ 2024 sustainability update said its AVMF veterinary technician scholarship program, then in its third year, supported more than 150 aspiring veterinary technicians with $2,000 scholarships in 2024. The new 2026 framework sharply increases both the per-student award and the visibility of technician support, while also adding a large-scale veterinary student component through AVMF. (zoetis.com)
The program details suggest a fairly targeted approach. AVMF’s scholarship page lists the Zoetis Foundation/AVMF veterinary student scholarship at $25,000 for second- or third-year students in good standing at AVMA-accredited schools in the United States or Canada, with an October 1 to October 31 application window. The technician scholarship is listed at $10,000 for students entering the second year of a two-year program, or the third year of a four-year equivalent program, at AVMA-accredited veterinary technology, veterinary nursing, or animal health technology programs in the United States or Puerto Rico, with applications open October 1 through November 15. (avmf.org)
Zoetis and AVMF are positioning the scholarships as part of a broader workforce strategy. In the AVMF announcement, Zoetis Foundation President Jeannette Ferran Astorga said educational debt remains one of the biggest barriers for students entering veterinary medicine, and AVMF Executive Director Danielle Johnson said the scholarships help remove financial barriers. That message lines up with Zoetis’ wider 2026 education funding: in February, NAVC announced a separate $250,000 Zoetis Foundation grant to expand the Believe and Belong in Veterinary Medicine program, which introduces middle and high school students to veterinary careers through mentorship, events, and virtual learning. (avmf.org)
The economic backdrop helps explain why this landed now. AVMA’s 2025 Report on the Economic State of the Veterinary Profession found average DVM debt among 2024 graduates was $168,979 across all graduates and $202,647 among those who carried debt. It also found 38.5% of graduating veterinarians had $200,000 or more in DVM debt, and 16.6% had $300,000 or more. At the same time, average anticipated income for 2024 graduates entering full-time employment was $130,110. AVMA said continued work on scholarships, tools, and debt-reduction strategies would benefit students and the profession as a whole. (ebusiness.avma.org)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is less about one scholarship announcement and more about what it signals. Corporate philanthropy is increasingly being used to shore up the profession’s pipeline at multiple stages, from middle-school exposure to technician training to DVM education. The technician component may be especially notable: Zoetis’ own sustainability reporting has described limited access to trained veterinarians and veterinary technicians as an ongoing challenge, and technician scholarships have historically been much smaller than DVM awards. Raising those awards to $10,000 could make a practical difference for students deciding whether they can stay in training, finish on time, or enter the field with less financial strain. (zoetis.com)
There are still limits to what scholarship funding alone can do. It won’t fix compensation pressure, burnout, or uneven workforce distribution, and it won’t erase the structural gap between education costs and earnings across parts of the profession. But for practices, educators, and organized veterinary medicine, the announcement is a useful marker of where investment is flowing: toward debt relief, earlier career exposure, and technician inclusion as part of workforce planning rather than an afterthought. That’s especially relevant for clinics trying to recruit across the full care team, not just veterinarians. (ebusiness.avma.org)
What to watch: The next milestones are the 2026 application cycles this fall, recipient distribution across schools and program types, and whether other funders respond with larger technician-focused awards or similar pipeline investments. If that happens, this Zoetis-AVMF expansion may look less like a one-off grant and more like a template for workforce support in veterinary medicine. (avmf.org)